Cancer is one of the most difficult types of diseases to treat. Cancers are known to be multifactoral, involving genetic predisposition, uncontrollable environmental factors and controllable factors, such as smoking, ingestion of carcinogens, exposure to environmental toxins and other factors. Morbidity and mortality exact a large human and economic cost from our society. Current therapies for cancer include chemotherapy using cytotoxic agents, antibodies against cancer cells, cessation of exposure to carcinogens and/or radiation therapy.
Although many cancers respond to these conventional therapies, many types of cancer are refractive to them. In many cases, such as cancer of the pancreatic head, once a diagnosis is made, the patient typically has a life expectancy of only several months.
Early diagnosis of cancer has been one of the more effective determinants of successful anti-cancer therapy. Many methods are used to detect cancer, including histological examination, detection of cancer markers in serum and other bodily fluids, physical examination, patient history, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, x-ray, ultrasound and other methods.
Human Dormancy Syndrome (HDS), also termed “Human Hibernation Syndrome” is a newly recognized syndrome involving several interrelated biochemical and physiological processes that can result in a number of different recognized disorders (see U.S. Pat. No. 7,288,257, incorporated herein fully by reference). A common underlying theme of all disorders within HDS is development of resistance to stress, characterized by “shutting down” of one or more physiological processes. For example, the fetal environment, responses to cold temperatures, starvation and other types of situations can produce a biological response similar to hibernation of other mammalian and bird species.
One characteristic of certain disorders in HDS includes elevated reverse triiodothyronine (“rT3”) to free triiodothyronine (“fT3”) ratio and one or more symptoms (see U.S. Pat. No. 7,288,257, issued Oct. 30, 2007). Diagnosis of HDS was enabled by the recognition that the rT3/fT3 ratio of prior studies was inaccurate, in that subjects considered “normal,” in fact, had a disorder as described in the above patent. The recognition of a lower level of rT3/fT3 in “true normal” subjects, and the diagnosis of HDS has led to improved treatment.
However, mechanisms of cancer formation and factors that contribute to cancer growth are not well known. There is general acceptance that certain cancers are associated with mutations in genes (oncogenes) that are present in human cells. Other types of cancers are known to be associated with certain viral infections.